The True Terror of St Rudolph!
by vampire-elf
Summary: Akaya doesn't realize his mistake until his seniors confirm it: he's stuck playing tennis at St. Rudolph for a month. But strange things begin to happen when Mizuki plots to steal away the entire Rikkai regular team for his benefit. Insanity ensues.
1. Chapter 1

Akaya _knew_ he shouldn't have stayed up so late. He had been doing his English homework, of course given to him by Yanagi, but after a while he thought he was going to go crazy. So he took a break and played a video game…until four in the morning. When he had early morning tennis practice the next day. Normally Saturdays were for sleeping in, so he hadn't even thought about it the previous night. Now he was sincerely regretting it.

He was on the bus now and on his way to Rikkai, but he could barely keep his eyes open. Only three hours of sleep. He couldn't even remember his own name. He was surprised he had even properly dressed himself and lugged his tennis bag out to the bus stop. At least he was going to be on time to early practice today.

Except when he woke up, he was past the station for his school. Only by a few stops, but he'd slept past it nonetheless. With an irritated sigh, Akaya got to his feet when the bus slowed to a halt. As long as he walked straight back the way the bus had come, he would arrive at Rikkai. He stumbled off the vehicle into the chill morning air and turned to look down the street. He tried to blink himself awake before walking forward. He'd get there eventually.

He walked for about fifteen minutes without any interruptions. The traffic wasn't extremely noisy, and there weren't many people on the streets. It was early on a Saturday morning, after all. But suddenly, when he swayed a bit on his feet, he bumped into somebody else. He hadn't even seen them.

"Hrm…sorry," Akaya murmured as he straightened a bit and bowed.

"It's okay," said a slightly irritated voice. There was a short pause. "Excuse me, aren't you Akaya Kirihara from Rikkai University?"

"Yup, that's me," Akaya mumbled. He jerked his thumb at his own chest. "Gonna be number one someday."

"I see. You're heading to tennis practice now, aren't you?" the other boy asked slyly.

"Yep," Akaya replied, and yawned widely.

"I'll help you there, since you're so tired. Here, give me your arm."

Akaya felt someone tug on his arm and he was nearly being dragged forward. "Don't want you to be late…"

"Yeah," uttered Akaya. He was too tired to argue or ask who the boy was. Instead he just allowed the stranger to pull him along. He didn't care how he got there, so long as he was on time so Sanada wouldn't yell at him.

After another few minutes, they stopped. Akaya blinked and looked around. They weren't at Rikkai. They were at another school that didn't look familiar to him. He looked behind him and saw empty tennis courts lined up behind a fence.

"Wait," Akaya said, brows furrowing over his dazed eyes. "Where are we?"

"Just making a little pit stop. I have things to do too, you know."

Akaya turned around and watched the black-haired boy in front of him fiddle with the doorknob to the clubhouse before them.

"Who are you?" Akaya asked. The other boy let out a quiet and somehow eerie laugh.  
>"I'm Mizuki, the manager of St. Rudolph's tennis club," he explained, finally turning to Akaya with a smirk. He watched Akaya with dark eyes. "Don't worry, Kirihara. We'll get you to practice soon."<p>

"Uh…okay," Akaya murmured. "St. Rudolph. Didn't you guys play in the… In the what…the…um…"

"Tokyo Prefectural Tournament," Mizuki finished for him. "We played against Seigaku, and…unfortunately lost." He bristled a bit, then said, "But that's okay. We're working hard now so that the next time we face off with them, we'll win."

"Oh. We lost too," Akaya muttered, frowning a bit.

"I'm aware. In the Kantou tournament," said Mizuki smartly. "As well as Nationals."

Akaya's scowl deepened.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Thanks for reminding me."

"I just need to get one thing…oh, and I need you to do something for me, since I'm being so nice as to help you to practice today," Mizuki explained.

"Whatever," Akaya muttered. He waited outside while the other was inside gathering whatever he needed. Akaya felt suspicious for a moment, but then abruptly recalled how tired he was, and he slumped forward with a groan. All he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't want to go to morning practice. But he would be dead if he missed it.

Mizuki returned a moment later, rambling something about a waiver and shoving a paper and pen into Akaya's hands. He kept explaining why signing it would be beneficial to Akaya personally, but he wasn't even listening. He shuffled over to the side of the clubhouse, lifted the paper against the wall, and scrawled his name and date messily onto the line at the bottom of the page. Mizuki fell suddenly silent after that. Akaya turned to hand him the paper and said, "Can I go to practice now?"

Mizuki smiled as he took the paper from Akaya.

"What a quick decision. Now there's no need to go anywhere but to change," he said, and picked up a duffle bag and held it out to Akaya. "This should fit you fine."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Akaya said, looking baffled.

"Weren't you listening to me?" Mizuki said with a grin. "You just signed a contract to be a part of St. Rudolph's tennis team for a month. Welcome to the team."

Akaya was speechless for a moment, trying to fully comprehend what the other boy had just said. He blinked and stared at the smirking Mizuki in horror.

"Wait…wait, what? _What_?" he cried.

"I have it in writing, with your…terrible signature right here," Mizuki told him, holding up the sheet of paper. Akaya gaped at it. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a dream. He was probably still sleeping on the bus. Akaya slapped his cheeks, but to his disappointment, he didn't wake up.

"That's not possible!" he wailed in panic.

"It is. Had you been listening to me or had you taken one moment to even glance at the print of this paper, it's titled 'Club Member Exchange Program.' You agreed to be an exchange student, so to speak, for St. Rudolph's tennis club."

Akaya was gawking at him in disbelief and terror. This couldn't be real! There was no way he could have just handed himself over to some other team. After another brief moment of frantic thinking, Akaya whirled around and jammed his hand into his pocket. He fished out his cell phone with shaky hands. If this was really happening, he needed help. He scrolled hurriedly through his contact list and dialed a number, then put the phone to his ear.

"Please pick up, please pick up," he murmured. He glanced back at Mizuki, who was just smiling victoriously at him. He heard a frustrated voice on the other line and immediately interrupted, crying, "Fukubuchou, help me! I just got kidnapped!"

"Is that Sanada? Let me speak with him. You're only confusing him," Mizuki said, taking a step forward and holding out his hand. Akaya shook his head and backed away. Mizuki pursed his lips. "Kirihara, I'm your manager now. Give me the phone."

"Fukubuchou! I'm not lying! I'm not making excuses! It's some weirdo named Mizuki from St. Rudolph! I was really tired and then bumped into him and he made me sign something and I didn't know what it was but I signed it to shut him up and now I'm on St. Rudolph's tennis team!" Akaya gasped for breath. "Help!"

Mizuki suddenly grabbed the phone and, with a bit of effort, ripped it out of Akaya's hand. He straightened his shirt a bit and then put the phone to his ear with a smile.

"Is this Sanada? Yes, good morning. I ran into Kirihara on the street today and he was just so tired, I had to help. He's obviously being pushed very hard over at Rikkai, so I thought I'd provide him with an opportunity to get stronger without being worked to the bone. I explained an exchange program we have here at St. Rudolph. He signed an agreement to stay with us here for a month. I assure you, I'll train him well, and he'll be back to you in four weeks better than ever. There's no need to worry." Mizuki was silent for a moment and then said, "I have the paperwork here." He was quiet again, then put the phone down and turned back to Akaya. "He hung up on me."

"Is he coming?" Akaya demanded.

"From what he said last, I assume as much," sighed Mizuki, and he handed the phone back to Akaya. He smirked and said, "Why don't you go change into your new uniform? I'll get some other things ready."

"No!" Akaya barked. I'm not changing into your stupid uniform!"

"Okay, then. Stand out here in the cold while I prepare," said Mizuki. He turned without a word, resting his elbow in one hand and using his free hand to twirl a clump of his hair. Akaya glared at the back of his head until the boy walked into the clubhouse and shut the door behind him. Akaya turned back around and stood stiffly in the cold. He kept shooting glimpses up for any sign of Sanada. He was sure there had to be some glitch, some way he could get out of this and just go back to Rikkai. But he had signed some legal paper. Maybe he really _would_ be stuck there for a month. That's the last thing he wanted. He wilted a bit and sighed heavily. He would just have to wait for someone to come and help him fix this.

He finally heard a sharp, familiar voice call his name and he looked up to see Sanada walking briskly towards him. Yukimura and Yanagi were trailing behind him.

"Buchous!" Akaya cried. "I think I really did sign something weird…"

"Akaya," Sanada snapped when they finally reached him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Well, I…I stayed up really late last night. Doing, uh…homework." Akaya gestured to Yanagi, who had assigned him the pages to do. "Yeah. And so I was up until like four in the morning! But I remembered we had practice today, so I got all my stuff together and got on the bus. But then…I fell asleep on the bus and missed the stop. So I got off and started walking, like, half asleep. Like a zombie. And then I bumped into this guy who said he'd help me get to tennis practice, but the next thing you know, I'm here and he's talking about how I have to sign some paper. So I did. And then…I called you."

Sanada settled a bit, his shoulders relaxing, but only just.

"Where is that boy, Mizuki?" asked Yukimura calmly. Akaya gestured to the door to the clubhouse, and all three Yanagi, Sanada, and Yukimura walked over to it. Before they had the chance to knock, the door swung open, and Mizuki stepped out, smirking and twirling his hair. His eyes met the others confidently and shrewdly.

"Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi," he said as he nodding to each of them individually. "I am so honored to have you three visit St. Rudolph like this."

"Mizuki, what's going on with Akaya? What's this document he signed?" Yanagi said, eying Mizuki carefully. The other let out a quiet laugh and held up his other hand. He was holding the sheet he'd given Akaya earlier. It was already in a protective page covering. The other three leaned in closer to read it. After a few seconds, they straightened up, a serious look on each of their faces.  
>"So he was right," murmured Yukimura, brows furrowing. "Akaya, did you read this when you signed it?"<p>

"W-well…uh, not really. He was talking a lot and I wanted him to shut up, so I just…signed it. I swear he told me it was something else!" Akaya explained defiantly. He shrunk a little when the other three stared at him for a moment longer before turning to Mizuki again.

"I'm sorry, but we're going to take him with us," Yukimura said, and he smiled icily. "He needs to practice with his own team."

"Actually, if you read closely, this agreement was in effect once it was signed by Kirihara. It is an official document provided by St. Rudolph and is enforced by not only our tennis club, but all other clubs at the school." Mizuki gestured to an area on the page that printed what he was explaining. "It is only broken if it's authorized by the captain of our team as well as myself, the manager."

"Why don't you need our permission to steal our regular member?" Sanada growled.

"It is a choice solely based on the individual, especially since attending our tennis club will not affect his regular classes at Rikkai. If that were the case, we would need permission from your captain and manager or treasurer, as well as his homeroom teacher. It says that in section 2.2, here." Mizuki showed them again where it stated these rules, and to the others' discontent, he was right once more. Yanagi scanned the paper and then said, "I'm afraid he's right. Looking over this article proves that Akaya must attend St. Rudolph's tennis club for at least a month. And that signature is definitely Akaya's, so it hasn't been forged."

"Damn it, Akaya," Sanada grunted, looking back at the boy. "Why didn't you read what you were writing?"

"I was tired!" Akaya defended, throwing his arms into the air. "And he was babbling about how it was a waiver I needed to sign so he wouldn't…uh…"

"Akaya, a waiver is the same as a contract," Yanagi sighed, sounding vaguely disappointed.

"I said it was a waiver you needed to sign if you didn't want to miss an opportunity to grow," Mizuki told them. "I explained perfectly clearly what it was. You simply weren't listening. But! Kirihara, this is a wonderful chance for you. I know your goals––I've analyzed you from your past tennis matches, and you want to defeat them, the very ones teaching you to play tennis. Why not join a different team to learn a different method to grow stronger?"

"No, I'm not dealing with this crap!" Akaya spat. He turned anxiously to Yukimura. "Buchou, I want to go back to Rikkai."

Yukimura hesitated, looking into the boy's sincere gaze. But then he said, "Akaya, I'm sorry, but you did sign an agreement. And maybe he's right; maybe some time away will do you good."

Akaya was dumbfounded.

"_What_?" he wailed. "W-what do you mean? You want me to be here?"

"You got yourself into this mess," Sanada jumped in fiercely. "You can deal with the consequences of your own mistake."

Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi bid Mizuki and Akaya farewell, a bit resentfully to both of them, before walking away, leaving Akaya standing with his jaw dropped. Mizuki watched the three older boys leave, then chuckled gleefully and turned around, taking hold of Akaya's shirt.  
>"Come on, let's get you changed! You're in for some good practice!" he nearly sang out, dragging the boy away. Akaya only stared after his seniors in hopeless terror.<p>

At the Rikkai tennis courts, everyone was warming up for their practice matches. Only the regulars were playing today, so Marui, Jackal, Niou, and Yagyuu were all jogging around the tennis courts to warm up. They didn't think much about how Akaya was nearly thirty minutes late, since that was often normal on their early Saturday practices. Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi would often wander off to discuss team matters together, so it wasn't surprising that they were missing either. As they began their last lap, they saw the other three walk onto the courts, looking more irritated than ever.

"Hey," Marui panted once they approached. "What's wrong? You all look pretty mad. Did something happen?"

"Akaya won't be joining us today," sighed Yukimura. "Or for the next few weeks. He signed an agreement to play with a different school's club for the next month."

Everyone halted what they were doing, staring at the other three doubtfully.

"What do you mean?" Jackal asked calmly, having not even broken a sweat after the run. "What school?"

"St. Rudolph. Their tennis club's manager, Mizuki, offered a month of practice at their school. Akaya, in his delusional, sleep-deprived state, signed it," Yanagi told them. Everyone heard a muffled snort and turned around to look at Niou, who was standing at the back of the group. His face was set, but his eyes had lit up with glee.

"Unfortunately, all of this is legitimate and legal," Sanada mumbled, glaring at Niou. "It's a program their school offers to anybody for any of their clubs."

"That's dumb!" Marui said, pouting. "Seaweed-head, gone for a month? They can't just steal him away like that!"

"If the paperwork is correct and Akaya signed it, he's bound to that agreement," Yagyuu commented as he folded his arms.

"And he did that…why, again?" Jackal said.

"He had been up late doing homework and was tired," Yanagi replied evenly. They all heard another splutter from behind the group, and again cast their eyes at Niou. His lip didn't even twitch.

"Well, that stinks," sighed Marui as he chewed his piece of gum. "Won't be as exciting with him gone."

"We will continue practice normally without him," said Yukimura. "Please finish your laps, then we'll stretch and start our practice matches."

Everybody responded obediently. Their schedule included: playing a set of practice matches, doing a few laps, and then having individual training time. In the midst of a doubles match between Marui, Niou, Jackal, and Yanagi, Marui turned away for a brief moment to pull out his cell phone.

"Marui, please don't check your phone during a practice match," Yukimura called to him. The redhead looked up and waived both his arms in the shape of a cross, signaling them to stop the match.

"What's up?" Jackal asked as he caught the ball that Yanagi had just hit at him.

"I just got a text from Akaya," Marui said, his brows furrowed.

"What does it say?" asked Yanagi curiously. Marui blew a small bubble as he checked his phone again, then read the message out loud.

" 'Get me out of here! This Mizuki guy is nuts! Please, please, please help!' With an angry face at the end," he announced.

"It's barely been an hour," said Sanada. "Tell him to focus on his training over there and to stop distracting us. He won't be forgiven if he slacks off."

Marui nodded, texting out the response and sending it before they continued the match. Not even two minutes had passed before Jackal was pulling out his phone, as was everybody else.

"He sent a mass text," Niou mumbled as he skimmed the furious message. "He's so whiny."

"Just ignore him," Sanada commanded. "He needs to focus, just like we do! Put your phones away and keep playing!"

"Yes, Fukubuchou!" everyone called out, slipping their phones into their pockets and hurrying to finish their match.

And so it was, for the next twenty minutes, Akaya texted everyone in distress. But nobody responded, and eventually the messages stopped, allowing everyone to concentrate on their practice. They finished up for the day about an hour and a half later and everybody headed home. That's when they all responded to Akaya's messages, explaining that they were sorry and that he just needed to tough it out. Niou, of course, was the only one who replied with a big happy face.

They didn't hear back from Akaya until the next day, when he spammed them with messages about Mizuki and how insane he was. The others tried to reassure him and tell him that he could get stronger if he only focused on it. Monday was the day they really got the brunt of the blow. Akaya was livid at school and stayed silent, even when passing the others in the hall or at lunch hour. After classes, he stopped by the tennis courts to shout at everybody, telling them how miserable he was and how they were awful teammates for not helping him. When Sanada stepped forward to respond, Akaya scurried off to dutifully attend his other tennis practice.

Things continued like this for the next few days. At one point, right in the middle of tennis practice, a wild-looking Akaya sprinted into the courts. He kept shouting, "I'm free! I escaped, I'm free!"

"Akaya!" Sanada roared. He was sick of going over this lecture over and over again. As Akaya was darting past him, Sanada caught him by the elbow. When Akaya whirled around, Sanada was a bit surprised; there were trace amounts of red at the corners of Akaya's eyes. They were bloodshot. Sanada stared at the boy's harsh face for a moment and then spoke in a calmer voice. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," hissed Akaya with a wide grin. "I turned that guy into mince meat, then ran for my life!"

The words sent a chill down Sanada's spine, and he clenched his teeth.

"You know what I'm going to tell you," he said. Akaya's smile faded, and he glared menacingly into Sanada's eyes. "You want to beat Yukimura, Yanagi, and I, don't you?"

"Yes," Akaya growled.

"And you've been training with us this whole time, haven't you?"

"So?"

"If you practice somewhere we can't see you, we won't know what you're planning," Sanada told him. Akaya gaped at him blankly, but suddenly grinned, his eyes widening with excitement.

"That's a great idea!" he said.

"Then go back to St. Rudolph," Sanada ordered, pointing down the road. Akaya instantly glowered angrily up at the older boy.

"_No_," he snarled. Sanada scowled down at him, and the two had a stare-off. Unbeknownst to them, a majority of the rest of the team was watching. Even Yukimura was eying the two cautiously. Finally Sanada turned around, keeping his hand clamped to Akaya's arm, and tugged him towards the exit from the courts.

"You have to go back," he said. "It's only one month. You'll survive if you stop whining about it!"

"No!" Akaya wailed. He sounded both infuriated and terrified. "Fukubuchou, don't make me go back! That guy is _psycho_! He's out of his mind! You don't understand!"

"You signed the paper, you have to live up to those standards! I will not see you run from this like a coward!"

The two argued their way off the courts, off the school grounds, and down the street. But, by the time they arrived at St. Rudolph, Akaya was quiet, pouting silently as Sanada hauled him along by the hand like a child. Sanada strode to the clubhouse door and rapped on it. It opened a moment later, and Sanada blinked. Mizuki stood at the doorway, but he was covered in fresh scratches and bruises.

"Oh," he muttered. He forced a smile. "Hello."

"I am sorry for Akaya's immature actions. I've brought him back so he can _properly_ complete his training at your school," Sanada said, bowing and glaring at Akaya, who bowed a bit.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Mizuki's eyes narrowed at the boy.

"He's quite a tough one, isn't he?" he commented, smiling. "Put up quite a fight…"

"That's another thing," Sanada said as he straightened. "I am sorry he injured you like that. Are you all right?"

Mizuki nodded, waving his hand to dismiss it. Sanada continued. "If Akaya ever acts out like that again, please don't hesitate to ask for help. We've been dealing with his recklessness for a while now."

"I'm still here," Akaya grunted.

"Again, I am very sorry for your injuries due to his behavior," Sanada said, and bowed again.

"No, it's all right! I trust with your diligent guidance today he'll behave himself," Mizuki said, throwing a dark smirk at Akaya, who grimaced and took a step back. Sanada put a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Train hard," he said to the boy. "Don't waste this opportunity or anybody's time."

"Yes, Fukubuchou," sighed Akaya, slumping. Sanada watched as Akaya walked over to Mizuki, who began speaking quietly, gesturing Akaya towards the school doors. Once they were gone, Sanada left the courts. He was quite upset that Akaya had resorted to his alternate mode to escape. But he shook it off, believing that it was simply an action brought on by his stubbornness. When he returned to Rikkai, everyone was staring at him. He barked at them to return to their practice, and everyone did so immediately. Yukimura approached him and watched him carefully, asking, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," Sanada replied quietly. "I think Akaya will finally take advantage of this mess he got himself into."

"Good," Yukimura said, relaxing and smiling. "I hope to see some good improvement when he returns."

After the episode that day, everyone noticed a change immediately––but not in a good way. Akaya was silent during school and didn't speak to anybody, and he always looked dazed. He didn't smile or frown or show any ounce of expression. Even when Niou tried pulling a trick on him, he didn't yell at him or get embarrassed; and when Marui offered to buy him lunch, (rather, to have Jackal buy _them_ lunch) he just shook his head and moved on.

One day at tennis practice, Sanada and Yukimura were discussing something by the fence. They heard loud footsteps and looked up to see Marui marching up to them, his normally bright face now filled with anxiety and anger. Jackal was following him, also looking concerned.

"Buchous!" Marui said, stomping his foot on the ground. "We _have_ to help Akaya. Something seriously weird is happening at that St. Rudolph place!"

"Marui, we've been over this," Sanada said, obviously irritated with the topic of discussion by now. "This was his own mistake, now he must face the consequences!"

"Seriously, Fukubuchou? You've seen him, haven't you? He's like…stoned. He never talks to any of us, doesn't eat lunch with us, he doesn't come by to yell at you guys…he doesn't even call or text us to complain anymore! It's been a week. Something really weird is happening. They're like…I swear they're brainwashing him."

"Marui," Yukimura began calmly, but Marui interrupted with a bow.

"Buchou, you know something is wrong!" he cried. "We have to figure out what's going on!"

"I think he's right," Jackal murmured slowly. "I mean, not about the brainwashing, and Marui is blowing it a little out of proportion, but Akaya's been acting pretty weird lately. You both know it. At least have someone check on him to make sure things are okay over there."

Yukimura exchanged glances with Sanada, and after a moment, they looked at Jackal and Marui.

"Very well," Yukimura said. "After practice, take who you will and pay a visit to him at St. Rudolph."

"We definitely will," Marui said, now in lighter spirits. He turned to Jackal, who was waiting expectantly for the next sentence. "You're coming with me. And we'll take Yagyuu, too, 'cause he's smart. And Niou because…well, yeah. We'll all go and make sure they stop brainwashing our Seaweed-head!"

"Brainwashing?" Jackal huffed, smiling. "Really?"

"You got a better explanation?" Marui rebuked, lifting an eyebrow as he chewed his gum a bit more vigorously. Jackal shrugged innocently. Sanada snapped at them, and the two apologized before returning to their practice. Once it was finished and the courts were cleaned up, Marui rounded up Niou, Yagyuu, and Jackal.

"We're on a mission," Marui said, his hands on his hips. "We have to go over to St. Rudolph and make sure Akaya isn't being turned into a mindless zombie!"

"Or that he wasn't abducted by aliens," muttered Niou sarcastically. "Or that they replaced him with a robot."

Marui made a face at him, then continued speaking.

"St. Rudolph is only about a fifteen minute walk from here, according to Sanada. We'll just go over and check on him, then formulate a plan to break him out once we know the situation better," he explained. "Everyone clear?"

Everyone nodded in confirmation. "All right! Operation: Rescue Seaweed-head: Begin! Let's go!"

With Marui in the lead, they headed off the courts and down the street. Marui seemed to be much more energetic than usual, something that Niou voiced first.

"You are in a weirdly excited today," he commented.

"Because this is awesome. We're like spies. Infiltrating the enemy territory because they captured one of our men and brainwashed him until he forgot who he was! And now we're gonna bust him out and take him home with us."

"How old are you, five?" Niou mumbled.

"We need code names!" Marui gasped. "Akaya is 'Seaweed.' Jackal can be 'Coffee.'"

"What? Why?" Jackal inquired.

"Because you're part Brazilian and that's where coffee beans come from…right?" Marui trailed off and thought for a moment before continuing. "Yagyuu can be 'Laser' and Niou can be, uh, 'Yagyuu.'"

"No," rebuked both Niou and Yagyuu.

"Fine, fine! Niou will just be 'Trick.'"

"I'd like to just be Niou, thanks," Niou said.

"I'll be 'Super Genius.' Everybody got those? Good. Now let's keep going."

The others followed the overly enthusiastic Marui down the road until Yagyuu said they'd reached St. Rudolph. They walked around the empty school grounds until they rounded a corner and saw the tennis courts enclosed in fencing nearby. As they approached, they saw somebody exit the clubhouse beside the school entrance.

"Isn't that Akaya?" Jackal said, pointing to the messy-haired silhouette.

"Seaweed!" called Marui, cupping his hands to his mouth. "We've come to save you!"

But when the four approached the boy, who had turned to them, they realized it wasn't Akaya. His hair was the same shade of black and was close to the same wiry mop Akaya donned, although a bit more controlled. He also had some faint bruises on his face and arms. When the boy saw them, he smirked.

"_Nfu_," he sniffed. "I recognize you four. Rikkai members, aren't you? Yagyuu, the gentleman; Niou, the court trickster; Marui, the genius look-alike; Jackal, the man with the impenetrable defense. I'm Mizuki, manager of the tennis club here at St. Rudolph. What can I do for you today?"

"Are you all right?" ventured Yagyuu slowly. Mizuki pursed his lips, then answered, "You know, I've been having some rough training recently…tennis isn't the safest sport, I'm sure you all know."

The others exchanged unconvinced looks, but didn't press the matter further.

"Where's Akaya?" asked Jackal before Marui could speak.

"Oh, I'm afraid he's doing some special training alone. You can't see him," said Mizuki.

"The hell we can," Marui snapped. "He's our _real_ teammate. We can see him whenever we want."

"Excuse him. Can't we simply give him some extra homework assigned in his class?" Yagyuu said to Mizuki professionally. "His teacher found us on the court today and explained he needed to do one more assignment."

"Oh, I'd be happy to give it to him once he's done training," said Mizuki, and he held out a hand. "He's quite busy."

Yagyuu's brows furrowed and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I'd rather not have it go through a third party," he muttered. Mizuki's eyes narrowed as he continued smiling at them.

"Well, I'm very sorry, but you'll just have to give it to him later when he's at home," he explained with a shrug. He put a hand to his forehead and watched the four with keen eyes. "I'll be sure to let him know you dropped by."

"Thanks," Jackal murmured. They stood still for a while, an awkward silence passing between them as they stared at one another. Finally, Niou turned and shoved the others towards the exit from the school grounds.

"Trick! We can't just leave," Marui whispered.

"When you're dealing with a weasel like that, you have to know the right tricks," Niou responded. "And will you stop using those names?"

"What are we doing?" Jackal asked.

"Some real spying," Niou responded. He glanced back at Mizuki's form as they got farther and farther away. The four finally walked out of the school grounds. But instead of heading back to Rikkai, Niou turned and steered everyone the opposite direction.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Marui. "Have you been here before, Trick?"

"No," the white-haired boy said, scowling at the nickname.

"But there's always more than one entrance to the tennis courts," added Yagyuu thoughtfully. Sure enough, they rounded the next corner and saw an entrance in the wall surrounding the school. The four peeked carefully around the corner. They were now on the opposite side of the tennis courts. They could barely make out Mizuki's silhouette standing on the other side of the fences.

"He is kind of creepy, isn't he?" Jackal murmured.

"I get a suspicious vibe from him," Yagyuu agreed. "I don't trust anything he says."

"Yeah, 'special training,' my ass! What did that even mean?" Marui huffed. They fell silent for a brief minute. "What now?"

"We wait until Mizuki's out of the picture and then investigate," Niou said. "So much for Mr. Genius."

"Hey, it's _Super_ Genius," Marui corrected Niou hastily. The other rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Mizuki.

"Looks like he's going back into the clubhouse," whispered Jackal. They watched from afar as Mizuki disappeared into the small building.

"Now's our chance," Niou hissed. "Be quick and _quiet_."

They all snuck forward, hurrying along the cement walkways. They split up, each of them taking a different route to investigate. There wasn't anybody else on the courts, and none of them could hear the sound of a racquet hitting a ball, or anything even remotely close to the normal sounds of tennis practice.

Suddenly, as they were snooping, they heard the door handle to the clubhouse rattle. Instantly they all panicked and darted to the nearest hiding place they could find. Jackal, unluckily close to the clubhouse, had to squeeze between it and the school's outer wall. Niou ducked under the cement barrier around the courts while Yagyuu and Marui hid behind separate bushes. Mizuki exited the clubhouse with a duffle bag and a set of keys. He closed and locked the door behind him before walking into the doors that lead into the school. They were very lucky he didn't see Jackal on the other side of the clubhouse. Once Mizuki was in the building, everyone relaxed. But they waited a while before trying to venture from their hiding spots. They were glad they did so, because a moment later Mizuki walked outside the building. Akaya was following him.

Marui nearly jumped out of his skin, but Yagyuu signaled him frantically to stay hidden. If they were discovered snooping around, they could get into serious trouble. So Marui stayed put, much to everybody's relief. They watched as the two boys walked away from the school and down the sidewalk. Once they were out of earshot, everyone slowly inched out of their hiding places and gathered together beside the clubhouse.

"Damn," Niou sighed. "Couldn't find a thing."

"Something really weird is going on," Jackal said.

"I told you before––_brainwashing_," Marui declared. Nobody listened to him.

"Maybe there's something in the school that'll give us a hint?" Jackal suggested.

"But there could be a teacher patrolling," Yagyuu said. "We could get caught."

"We could just send one person in," said Jackal. "Less suspicious, that way. We could just explain that we're grabbing something for a friend."

"Akaya's on their tennis team after all, isn't he?" Niou murmured.

"Perfect! Jackal, go investigate," Marui said, waving his hand to the bald boy, who frowned.

"What? But…ugh, fine," he moaned. He hesitated when he turned towards the building. Hopefully he would find something useful without getting caught. He glanced around to make sure the area was really empty before he jogged to the school doors. He threw an unsettled glance at the other three before pushing the door and walking inside the building.

Yagyuu, Marui, and Niou waited outside, crouched by the wall near the stairs leading into the school. After about ten minutes, they began to worry. If Jackal was caught, they were all in trouble. So they nominated Marui to go and check on him. But just as he reached the door, Marui smiled in relief. He stood aside as Jackal walked out.

"Sheesh, what took you so long?" Marui asked him. "You were in there for, like, an hour."

"It wasn't even ten full minutes," Jackal said. "And I didn't find anything. It's just the boys' locker room."

"Then what do we do?" Marui sighed. He looked around at the others, but nobody said anything. "I guess we could just go back and tell––wait…" Marui fell silent, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Wait, wait. They said Seaweed signed a paper, right? That he has to stay here?"

"A one month agreement," Yagyuu said.

"I'll bet you it's around here somewhere. If we got a hold of it and…I dunno, threw it away or put it through a paper shredder, they would have no proof that Seaweed is supposed to be here! He'd be free!"

"That's illegal," Niou said, and smirked. "I'm in."

"Niou," Yagyuu huffed, brows knitting in concern. "I'd rather we not resort to something so primitive."

"You want Akaya back too, don't you?" Jackal said, and when Yagyuu didn't answer, Marui grinned.

"It's decided then! Operation: Get Seaweed's Papers is a _go_. Where do you think they would keep them?" he whispered, even though there was no need to.

"I didn't see any folders or documents in the locker room except general school promotions and announcements," Jackal explained.

"Most club documents are in the clubhouse, but Mizuki locked it when he left," Yagyuu said. Everyone slumped a bit at the statement. Then they all looked over at Niou, who was fiddling with his ponytail. He faltered when their eyes fell upon him.

"What?"

"You're always dressing up, right?" Mari said. "That means you have to have something on you that'll get us into that clubhouse."

"Like a bobby pin," Yagyuu said. Niou waited in silence, but none of them let up, so he sighed and reached into his back pocket. A moment later, he held up a small black hairpin.

"Wow, really manly," Marui commented. Niou scowled and swatted him in the head before striding over to the clubhouse door and leaning over. He gripped the handle and carefully inserted the pin into the lock.

"Was there anyone inside the school?" Yagyuu asked Jackal as Niou worked.

"Not while I was in there. School probably ended a couple hours ago, so nobody's here," answered Jackal with a shrug. "We're probably safe."

Niou wriggled and prodded the lock for a while. Marui bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet and repeatedly asked if Niou was done yet. Jackal and Yagyuu kept a lookout, just in case anybody from the school passed by. So far, they were still alone. Finally, Niou heard a muffled clack, and he smirked, straightening. He turned the knob and the door swung slowly inward.

"You did it!" cheered Marui quietly. "Good job, Trick! Now let's find that paper."

Niou flipped on the light, and everyone froze, staring around the small room. There were papers everywhere. They were all in neatly stacked piles and pinned symmetrically on the walls, but that didn't make looking for Akaya's one sheet any less difficult.

"We can't go through this," Yagyuu hissed. "We'll be kicked out of our club if Sanada finds out we went through another school's paperwork."

"As long as we leave everything exactly how it was, we'll be fine," Niou responded, walking over to the desk. Jackal and Marui walked inside as well, but Yagyuu stayed outside, looking flustered.

"You keep watch, Laser," Marui whispered to him from the door. Yagyuu sighed irritably and crossed his arms. The other three began to carefully read over the papers. Marui suddenly beckoned Jackal and Niou to one of the clubhouse walls.

"Coffee, Trick, look," he said, and pointed to the paper he'd been reading. "This is talking about exactly what Buchou and Fukubuchou were talking about. But this one isn't signed by Seaweed."

"Looks like this one is old anyway. That Mizuki guy and their captain signed this paper a couple of months ago," Jackal said, directing the others' attention to the dates written. The three then glanced at the other papers pinned on the wall. They were all the same.

"What the hell?" Niou uttered. "These go back nearly an entire year."

"And this one is from last week," Jackal said. "Not Akaya, though…"

"Just what is that Mizuki up to?" Marui wondered. "What a freak! But Seaweed's has to be here somewhere! Keep looking!"

After scanning the other papers along the wall, they finally found the one with Akaya's messily scrawled name written on the line. But in that same moment, Yagyuu frantically poked his head into the doorway.

"A teacher's headed this way," he hissed. "We have to go _now_!"

"Dammit!" Marui gasped. "Abort mission! Abort, abort!"

Yagyuu moved quickly aside as the other three darted out of the clubhouse. Sure enough, a man in a suit was walking towards them. He already had a suspicious look on his face.

"Hey, you three," he called out. "Those uniforms…do you belong to another school? What are you doing in that clubhouse?"

"Run," Niou whispered, and nobody argued. They all took off running past the tennis courts. The man tried chasing them, but they easily eluded him after all their training. Once they knew they knew that they had successfully escaped, they slowed to a walk as they headed back to Rikkai. After a few moments of silence, Marui declared, "All right! We did it! Now who has the paper?"

Nobody answered him. Jackal looked at Niou, who met his eyes, and then they both glared at Marui.

"We thought _you_ took it!" they exclaimed in frustration.

"I thought _you_ guys took it!" Marui cried out. "Aw, man! All that for nothing! We got so far!"

"Guess we'll just have to tell the Buchous we got nothin'," mumbled Jackal. "If they found out about what we did…"

"Oh, I don't even want to think about that," Marui moaned. They all fell into a grumpy silence after that. Soon they got back to the Rikkai tennis courts, and much to their relief, nobody was there.

"Thank goodness," Jackal sighed as they walked to the benches to grab their tennis gear. "I thought for sure they'd still be here."

"You kidding? It's nearly five o'clock. Nobody stays that late after school, not even Fukubuchou," Marui sniffed. He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. "Guess that means we're still safe!"

"Safe from what?" came a gruff voice behind them. The boys stiffened, their blood running cold. They slowly and fearfully turned around, and sure enough Sanada was standing behind them. He was wearing his permanent scowl under his dark hat, but it seemed more dangerous than usual. They all cowered slightly. "What happened?"

Since the only person who could successfully lie to Sanada was Niou, they ended up explaining what had happened. Except, of course, the part where they broke into the clubhouse.

Marui, Jackal, and Niou were on their knees with their heads touching the ground at Sanada's feet.

"We're very sorry," they said sheepishly.

"That's enough!" barked Sanada furiously. "Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"They picked the lock into the clubhouse to steal Akaya's paperwork," Yagyuu muttered offhandedly. Jackal, Niou, and Marui glowered up at him.

"Traitor," whispered Marui. Sanada's face became very red as he stared down at the three, his eyes like knives carving the very souls from the three.

"You _what_?" he roared. He rounded on Yagyuu, pointing at him. Yagyuu jumped. "And you! Why didn't you stop them? Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have gotten in if you were caught?"

Yagyuu joined the other three on his knees in less than a second.

"We are _very_ sorry," the four repeated in unison. Sanada stared down at them in disbelief, horror, and rage. He was so livid he was quivering.

"_Straighten_!" he seethed. The four immediately sat up straight. Yagyuu was already preparing for what was ahead, taking off his glasses and folding them carefully. Then Sanada struck them all hard on the cheek, one after another. They fell back, but recovered, again sitting on their knees, heads bowed.

"You are lucky I'm feeling merciful today," Sanada growled. "Not to mention you were trying to help your teammate…but what you did is unacceptable! If you do anything that stupid and reckless again, you can say goodbye to being a regular and you'll be on court cleanup with the first years! Do you understand?"

"Yes, Fukubuchou," the boys responded, bowing again. Sanada bristled, his dark eyes still locked on them.

"Good. Now get up. You're getting extra laps this week for this screw up, and I don't want to hear any complaining, understand?" he growled.

"Yes, Fukubuchou," they replied.

"Good," Sanada said. "Now give me fifty laps."

"Only?" Niou murmured.

"Around the entire school," Sanada added, eyes narrowing. The others cast Niou an annoyed glare before standing and starting their long jog. Sanada watched them go before exhaling slowly, closing his eyes. He couldn't believe that all four of them had done such a stupid thing. Still, they knew what they had done was wrong, and they were trying to help Akaya. Sanada's thoughts were then drawn to what they had told him about Mizuki. The boy had explained that Akaya was doing 'special training' alone in the school, and how he had papers just like Akaya's pinned up all over the walls of their clubhouse. Sanada's eyes narrowed in distaste. The more he heard about this Mizuki, the less he liked him.

After a while, he saw the boys jog past the tennis courts. Since he knew they were doing as they were told, he headed back to the clubhouse. He opened the door and walked inside. Yukimura glanced up from the table, where he was looking over some papers.

"What happened?" the boy asked in his soft voice. "I heard you shouting."

Sanada let out a growl before explaining everything to Yukimura, who listened quietly and intently to his words.

"I gave them proper discipline, of course," Sanada reassured once he had relayed the story to him. "But I have a bigger concern: that Mizuki. The more I hear about him, the more suspicious I get. I think we may need to investigate a bit further. In a proper manner, of course."

Yukimura was silent for a while, his chin resting in his hand and his grey-blue eyes focused intently on the table. Sanada waited patiently for him to speak. Finally, the other heaved a sigh and looked up at Sanada.

"Have them go back," he said. Sanada blinked, not expecting this. "Have them speak with Mizuki, and if possible, try to work something out to get Akaya back. I'm not too keen on where this is going either."

"Of course," Sanada said, nodding once. "I'll have them return and speak with Mizuki, then."

Yukimura smiled and then added, "So long as they don't pull any ridiculous stunts like today, things should be fine."

"I'll make sure they don't do something tactless," Sanada promised him.

"I'll trust it to you, then," Yukimura said. "Thank you for keeping an eye on them."

Sanada nodded, bowed and excused himself, then walked out of the clubhouse. He made sure the others did all fifty of their laps, and by then it was nearly dark. Yagyuu, Marui, and Niou were all gasping for breath, dropped on their hands and knees on the concrete. Even Jackal, the master of endurance, was panting quite heavily, leaning on his knees for support.

"You'll get these extra laps every day this week," Sanada told them. "And, in addition to that, you will be returning to St. Rudolph to try and get Akaya back."

Everyone stared up at him, but they were too exhausted and out of breath to argue. "According to what you told me, something suspicious is going on with the situation. Yukimura and I both agree that we should investigate––_properly_––what's happening and make sure Akaya is all right. Do you understand?"

Everyone gave a breathy response and Sanada nodded in satisfaction. "Very well. You are free to go now."

But nobody moved after he spoke. Their legs felt like jelly and their lungs were near collapsing. So Sanada left them, walking back to the clubhouse. He knew they would do as they were told, and hopefully by this time tomorrow, their team would be complete once more.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day after school, everyone gathered at the courts. Niou, Yagyuu, Jackal, and Marui dutifully did their fifty laps around the school. When they finished and recovered from the run, Sanada told them to go back to St. Rudolph for the remainder of practice. So they changed clothes and set off for the other school. Marui complained the whole way there, but everyone else was too tired to tell him off for it. When they reached the courts of St. Rudolph, their tennis club was practicing too. Everyone was surprised by how few members they had.

"No wonder that Mizuki guy recruited all those people," Marui said. "Their club is tiny."

They walked over to the clubhouse, where Mizuki was already waiting outside. He turned to them, looking only half surprised.

"Oh, my. Hello again," he greeted them. "Did you get that homework to Kirihara?"

"That's not why we're here," Yagyuu said.

"Look," Jackal began. "We just want Akaya back. Isn't there anything we can do to release that form?"

Mizuki heaved a sigh, shifting the weight on his feet as he entwined one finger in his hair. After a moment, he looked up at them.

"I'm afraid there's just no way to get him back," he said in a mock-sorrowful voice. "Unless you're willing to compromise."

"What do you want?" Niou said. Mizuki's now all-too-familiar smirk appeared on his face when Niou spoke.

"How about this: you four sign into our tennis team for a month, and I'll release Kirihara from his contract. Sound fair?" said Mizuki.

"What? That's not fair at all!" Marui cried. "We don't want to be here either."

"Well, it's my final offer. Take it or leave it," Mizuki told them with the flick of his wrist. "What do you say?"

The others stood there in silence for a few minutes before Marui called, "Huddle!" and grabbed the others and pulled them aside. The four leaned into a circle. "What do we do?" Marui hissed. "We can't all sign in for a month. We're regulars."

"Mizuki said that was his final offer," Jackal said. "If there's no other way, then either Akaya's stuck here or all four of us are stuck here."

"But we're _regulars_," Marui groaned.

"So is Akaya," Yagyuu said. "We can't just leave him, if there's another way out.

"That means we'd have to bargain with him," Niou said. Everyone turned to look at Yagyuu.

"Yagyuu, you're smart, right? You're on the student council," said Marui slowly. Yagyuu glanced at the others, feeling suddenly quite exposed.

"Well, I'm on the council, yes, but…"

Everyone immediately shoved him forward and took a big step back. Yagyuu stumbled and clenched his fists, glaring at the boys behind him.

"Go on, take care of business," Marui said happily, gesturing with his hands.

"We believe in you, Yagyuu," said Jackal, giving him two thumbs up.

"_Piyo_," Niou added. With a deep scowl from the brunette, Yagyuu turned back around to face Mizuki. He had been waiting patiently behind them, smirking. Yagyuu straightened a bit, adjusting his tie and hair before he said, "We'd like to adjust your offer."

"I'm afraid there isn't anything I will trade it for. I told you, it's my final offer," Mizuki responded coolly. Everyone slumped in defeat, completely devastated by Mizuki's inability to simply work out a deal. Yagyuu turned around and locked gazes with Niou.

"You really ought to be the one doing this, and you know it," he whispered. Niou shook his head rapidly, waving his hands in an effort to stop Yagyuu from continuing.

"What do you mean?" Marui said. Yagyuu's eyes narrowed at Niou, who glared right back.

"Don't say anything," he ordered. Jackal and Marui turned suspiciously to Niou.

"Are you hiding something?" Jackal said.

"Lots of things, now shut _up_," Niou rebuked. He and Yagyuu glowered at one another for a few seconds. Then Mizuki coughed and said something under his breath.

"Well…I guess there _is _a release form. And a witness form to accompany that," he muttered. Everyone looked back at him in astonishment.

"What?" Marui cried. "Where?"

"Marui, I don't think––" Yagyuu said slowly, glancing between the redhead and Mizuki.

"It's in the clubhouse, here. But I need two signatures, one for the release, one for the witness," Mizuki said. Marui grabbed Jackal's arm and was running for the clubhouse.

"No, wait!" Yagyuu said, but Niou grabbed him.

"Let's see where this goes," he muttered to him in a low voice. Yagyuu looked at him incredulously.

"I will tell you it's going _nowhere_ good," he snapped. Niou grinned at him.

"I found a pen! Hurry, Jackal, sign it, sign it!" Marui cried from inside the clubhouse. Yagyuu and Niou turned their eyes to Mizuki, whose smile had widened. A moment later, Marui and Jackal came out. Marui looked quite victorious and pleased with himself, holding up the two sheets of paper. Jackal just looked frustrated that Marui, once again, dragged him into something without giving him any option.

"There!" Marui declared, holding up the two pages. "Now give him back!"

"Nfu," chuckled Mizuki. "Did you read all the details?"

"No, but…this was the paper, right?" said Marui. Mizuki nodded. "All right! Give him back!"

Yagyuu's shoulders slumped and he put his hand over his face, dumbfounded by the ignorance of his teammates. Niou was trying desperately to hold back his laughter, nearly doubling over and shaking, a hand over his mouth. Marui and Jackal looked from Yagyuu and Niou to Mizuki.

"Wait," Jackal said, and he grabbed the papers from Marui's hand. He quickly scanned them, then turned to the redhead frantically. "Marui!" he cried. "You just did _exactly _what Akaya did!" He paused and looked at the sheet again. "Dammit, so did _I_!"

"I told you to wait," Yagyuu uttered, completely defeated. Marui peered over Jackal's shoulder to look at the papers. His face paled and his eyes widened.

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no," he whimpered. His horrified eyes lifted and locked on Niou and Yagyuu. "Niou, Yagyuu…you guys have to help us!"

"No way," Niou said simply. "You got yourselves into this mess."

"At least help _me_!" Jackal begged. "I didn't have a choice!"

"You had the choice to read it," Yagyuu responded. "Although I do feel a bit of pity for you, Jackal."

"Marui…not so much," murmured Niou.

"Come _on_!" wailed Marui. "We were doing it for Akaya! I mean, Seaweed!"

"We'll tell the Buchous you fought your hardest," Niou promised. "Mizuki was just too much for you."

"Two more members, perfect," said Mizuki, twirling his hair again. "I'll be sure to find you some uniforms."

"Yagyuu, Niou!" Jackal wailed as Mizuki grabbed him and Marui. "You bastards! Get us out of here!"

Niou saluted half-heartedly and Yagyuu pushed his glasses up his nose. Before long, the other three had disappeared into the school. Jackal and Marui, however, weren't going silently. They writhed desperately in an attempt to escape from Mizuki's grasp.

"Calm down, calm down!" Mizuki said to them. "I'm taking you to Kirihara, doesn't that make you happy? You can talk with him while I find some uniforms for you."

"No, that doesn't make us happy, you creep," Jackal huffed. "We want out of here!"

"You can leave," Mizuki told them simply. "In a month," he added, and laughed to himself.

"Dude, you are crazy," Marui said, looking legitimately uncomfortable as Mizuki pulled them along. He stopped at a door and released Marui for a moment, opening the door.

"There, see? Your friend Kirihara is right there, waiting for you," Mizuki sniffed. Before the other boys could say a thing, he shoved them into the room and pulled the door shut, locking it behind them. "I'll be back with your uniforms," he sang through the door. He hummed to himself as he practically skipped down the hall. He hadn't had this many recruits in a long time…

"Jeez, that guy is out of his mind," Jackal uttered, rubbing his arm where Mizuki had grasped him. He heard a panicked sob and hurriedly turned around. Marui was kneeling on the ground beside Akaya. The black-haired boy was lying on the floor, staring distantly at the ceiling.

"Seaweed-head!" Marui was crying out. "You can't be gone! Don't tell me you're gone! Say something!"

"Uh, Marui?" Jackal murmured. Marui was pulling Akaya's head into his lap.

"Akaya! Can you hear me? Say something, say something…let us know you're still here!" he pleaded. He sounded as if he was about to cry. Jackal walked over, an eyebrow lifted as he looked down at Akaya. The boy's green eyes were glazed over, like he was half-asleep. That was nothing like the Akaya they knew. Abruptly, though, the boy stirred. He slowly lifted his arm. Marui and Jackal leaned in intently, watching his hand reach into the air.

"Yes, yes?" whispered Marui hopefully. Akaya opened his mouth and spoke softly.

"Must…bring victory…to…St. Rudolph," he uttered. Marui and Jackal's eyes widened.

"No! They got him! They got him, Jackal! Man down, man down! Oh no. That means we're next. Jackal, _we're next_!" Marui wailed in horror, wrapping his arms tightly around the other boy's legs.

"Shut up, will you? You're not helping," Jackal cried. He tried to maintain his balance while Marui clung to him. "We just need to…wake him up." But he felt uncertain himself. This was proof enough that something bigger was going on. Suddenly, the two heard music playing, and they both turned around to see the TV in the corner lit up brightly. A man's voice began to narrate, thanking students for joining the St. Rudolph tennis club. As the video went on, Jackal and Marui stared at it in fright. Jackal turned to Marui rapidly.

"Marui, I…I think you were right all along…" he uttered. The redhead didn't respond. He was still staring blankly at the television. "Marui?" Jackal whispered. It couldn't be…! "_Marui_!" Jackal wailed. "Not you too!"

But it was too late––Marui was already drawn in by the video. That meant Jackal really was next in line to be hypnotized by St. Rudolph. That was Mizuki's plan from the start.

Once Jackal and Marui were gone, Niou put his hands into his pockets.

"Well, we'd better head back," he said.

"You sound too cheerful," Yagyuu said. Niou smirked at him. They walked alone back to Rikkai, where they arrived at the tennis courts. Sanada and Yukimura were both monitoring the rest of the club as they practiced. Yagyuu and Niou stepped up behind Sanada and hesitated. Eventually Sanada turned around, looking at the two. His brows furrowed.

"What happened? And where are Marui and Jackal?" Sanada demanded. Niou clicked his tongue and turned on his heel, striding away and leaving Yagyuu alone in front of Sanada.

"Yagyuu," said the taller boy. "What's going on?"

Yagyuu shifted for a moment, then squared his shoulders and stood tall before Sanada.

"Marui and Jackal were tricked and foolishly signed the same document Akaya did. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen." Yagyuu emphasized the last part. "I _told_ them to stop."

Sanada's lip twitched and he glared after Niou. He looked back at Yagyuu, his face hardened.

"You'll just have to go back and get all three of them," he said. Yagyuu pursed his lips and tried hard not to say something incriminating.

"Isn't it your duty as Fukubuchou to watch out for all the members of the team?" he asked in an even voice.

"I have other matters to attend to, like making sure the other seventy members aren't slacking off," Sanada responded coldly. "Yukimura and Yanagi are in the same position I am. Go find Niou and get Marui, Jackal, and Akaya back."

"I'm not going back there."

Sanada's eyes narrowed. He turned around and called across the court to Yukimura, who walked around to join them.

"Hello Yagyuu. Where are Marui and Jackal?" he asked curiously.

"They got tricked into joining St. Rudolph, just like Akaya," Yagyuu told him earnestly. "And I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen."

"Well…we have to get them back," said Yukimura, his face falling.

"Yagyuu told me that we should do it," said Sanada to Yukimura. "Just leave the club in a mess to save three idiots on our team."

Yagyuu shifted uncomfortably while Sanada said this to Yukimura. The brunette watched the other boy's face cautiously. Yukimura was silent for a moment, then smiled an eerie, cold smile.

"You know, we can always get new regulars," he said happily. "There are plenty of people in the club worthy of the position."

"E…excuse me?" Yagyuu said, awestruck. "You can't do that. There's a reason we've been the same regulars for nearly two years now."

Sanada and Yukimura exchanged silent glances.

"We could probably find the sign-up sheet and put it up today," Sanada said. All of a sudden, they heard an ecstatic voice, and turned to see whom it belonged to. It was Urayama, the ginger-headed, over-zealous first year.

"Whoa, regular positions are open? I wanna try out! I've been practicing a lot on my own! I'm even developing my own move called the 'Soft Serve' because it twists like soft serve ice cream!" he said, his eyes glowing excitedly. "I haven't perfected it yet, but…I'm practicing really hard! Ah, Buchou, Buchou, do you think I can try out?"

Yukimura smiled at the boy and then at Yagyuu, who was holding back a look of utter disgust.

"I suppose we'll have to see," said Yukimura pleasantly. Yagyuu knew he had lost this fight long ago, and there was no point in arguing anymore. With a stiff bow, Yagyuu dismissed himself and turned around to look for Niou. He couldn't believe the Buchous, threatening their regular position like that. They would find a way to get Akaya, Marui, and Jackal back, _somehow_. But first he had to find Niou, because he refused to go back there alone. So Yagyuu searched around the places the boy often hung out, and finally found him leaning against a crooked tree by the front of the school. Yagyuu walked up to him and prodded him hard on the shoulder.

"We have to go get the other three," he said when Niou turned to him.

"Or else what?" he mumbled.

"We won't be regulars anymore," said Yagyuu seriously. Niou stared at him, analyzing his face. "I'm not lying, Niou. Sanada and Yukimura were both talking about it."

"Damn," sighed Niou. "How are we going to get them back?"

"I have no idea. We'll figure something out," Yagyuu uttered. So he and Niou headed, once again, to St. Rudolph. By the time they arrived, practice was near over. They couldn't see their teammates anywhere. They searched around until they saw Mizuki with a clipboard near the fence by the courts. Yagyuu and Niou turned instantaneously to one another to try and formulate a plan. Finally they strode up to the black-haired boy.

"We need our teammates, _now_," Niou growled. Mizuki glanced up at them, but didn't smile.

"My, you certainly are persistent," he sighed. He sounded a bit aggravated. "I've already told you, there's no way to get them back. They signed a legal document."

"Then can we at least _see_ them?" Yagyuu groaned. Mizuki observed the pair for a moment, and then his sneaky smile returned. This made the other two feel very unnerved.

"Very well," he sighed. "They're in special training, where I normally don't allow visitors. But you two seem pretty desperate, so I'll allow it this time."

"Thank you," Yagyuu sighed in relief. Niou cast him a suspicious look, but Yagyuu ignored him. Mizuki guided them over to the entrance of the school, holding the door open for the other two. Once inside, he took them past the locker room and into the hallway. He stopped at the first door on the right. He simply gestured to it, smiling. Niou and Yagyuu watched him for a moment before looking at the door.

"This is too easy," murmured Niou.

"Only because I'm allowing it. Your visit will be no longer than two minutes and then I'll have to ask you to leave. I'll be waiting at the door," Mizuki told him. When neither of the boys moved, Mizuki sighed in irritation and opened the door. "See?"

They turned their attention into the room, where they heard something playing and saw three people sitting on a bench. It was Jackal, Akaya, and Marui. Yagyuu glanced at Niou, who shrugged, and the two walked cautiously into the room.

"Uh, guys?" Niou said.

"If you don't come back with us immediately, Fukubuchou is going to kick us all off the regulars," Yagyuu said in a severe tone. None of the other three even turned around. Niou and Yagyuu moved further into the room, maneuvering so they were facing the others. All three looked dazed as they stared at a TV in the top corner of the room. Niou and Yagyuu looked over at it. A video was playing, talking about St. Rudolph and the tennis team, about how proud the school was to have such wonderful players representing it.

"The hell is this?" Niou muttered. Yagyuu was waving a hand in front of Akaya's face.

"It's like they're…" He stopped and turned to look at Niou. Both thought the same thing, and both boys' eyes widened.

"Brainwashed," they whispered. They heard a quiet laugh from the doorway and whirled around to see the door closing on them.

"No!" Yagyuu cried. Niou, since he was closest, darted to the door to try and stop Mizuki. But he was too slow. Mizuki shut the door and they heard the knob click as it locked. Niou angrily slammed his fists against the door.

"Let us out, you bastard," he growled.

"Nfu! I would have gotten the two of you sooner or later," Mizuki responded from the other side, rubbing his hair between his fingers. "I thought I may as well grab you while I could. I'll get the papers for the two of you, and once you've watched our orientation video, I'm sure you'll have no problem signing on for a month as well."

The two listened as Mizuki chuckled and walked away. Niou turned to Yagyuu, who was wearing the same disturbed and terrified expression he was. Neither spoke for a few moments. Then Niou straightened a bit, combing his fingers through his hair.

"Well…damn," was all he could say. Yagyuu nodded in agreement. He couldn't have vocalized his feelings any better than that.

Sanada, Yukimura, and Yanagi watched as the last of the tennis club walked off the courts. It was silent once they were gone, nothing but a light breeze rustling the leaves of the trees nearby. The three of them stood in silence a bit longer before Yanagi finally vocalized all their thoughts as if he'd read their minds.

"Niou and Yagyuu haven't come back," he said quietly. He turned to look at the other two. "Shall we go to St. Rudolph and confront Mizuki about this?"

"Yes," Sanada said. "This is getting out of hand."

"It was getting out of hand when Marui and Jackal disappeared," Yukimura admitted, his brows furrowed in concern. "Yagyuu was right. We should have gone with him and Niou to confront Mizuki right then and there."

The three fell silent again, all feeling guilty about their former decision.

"Well, there's no point in moping about it," Sanada sniffed, and he adjusted his cap. "Let's go speak with Mizuki."

"And get our team back," Yukimura agreed, straightening his jacket. The three departed from the Rikkai courts and headed down the street confidently; they were ready to take on any confrontation with St. Rudolph head-on and bring their team back with them that day.

The tennis courts at St. Rudolph were empty when they arrived. There didn't appear to be anybody around, but just in case, Yukimura went to the clubhouse and knocked on the door. The three surrounded the doorway and waited. Soon enough, it opened, and Mizuki was standing before them. All three towered over him, wearing dark and dangerous faces.

"Ah, the Big Three!" said Mizuki. "I've been expecting you."

"We are getting our team back," said Yukimura. "And none of your paperwork is going to stop us."

Mizuki stared up at them, then chuckled and said, "I'm afraid––"

"_No_. None of it," Sanada growled through gritted teeth.

"Unless you'd like to settle this in a match of tennis against us," Yanagi added thoughtfully. "The chances of you winning are 0%."

Mizuki stared up at the three in silence for a while, trying not to show his fear.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," he said. "There's no need to get so hasty. I will take you to the rest of your team. Please just follow me this way." He gestured to the school, but the other three didn't move. They loomed over him like three demons just waiting for him to let his guard down. Mizuki wiggled his fingers and nervously reached up to play with his hair. "Please, I…really will take you to them…"

"Don't do anything funny," Sanada growled. Mizuki bowed to show his sincerity before the three finally stepped aside and allowed him to pass. Mizuki walked briskly up the stairs and held the door open, watching the three taller boys stride into the school. He quickly entered after them and made his way to the front to guide them.

"Please, come this way," he said, gesturing down the hall as he pulled a ring of keys from his pocket. He unlocked the door on the right. "They're in here, I promise you."

"Why was the door locked?" Yukimura asked suspiciously.

"It's their special training," Mizuki responded. "It's not to be disturbed."

The three stared hard at his not-so-innocent smile. Yukimura and Yanagi looked at the door for a moment.

"I think we should––"

"That's enough!" cried Sanada, grabbing the doorknob.

"Genichirou, no!" Yanagi and Yukimura cried. Sanada swung the door open and stormed inside. Yukimura followed him, and Yanagi trailed as well, but as he did, he glanced back at Mizuki. The boy was grinning and laughing quietly to himself. Yanagi's eyes snapped open in horror.

"Chances this is a trap…100%!" he hissed. The door slammed shut behind them, and they heard it lock.

"Dammit!" Sanada cried. The three's attention was suddenly drawn to their teammates, who were scattered around the room, either sitting on the bench or laying on the floor. All of them had a vacant look in their eyes.

"Must…" uttered Marui.

"Bring victory…" Yagyuu breathed.

"St. Rudolph…" Jackal mumbled.

"_Puri_," Niou whispered. Sanada, Yanagi, and Yukimura stumbled back in surprise and horror. What on earth had been going on here? Had this been happening ever since Akaya joined St. Rudolph?

"That Mizuki," whispered Yukimura as he gaped at his former club members in sheer terror. "He's a devil!"

"What's that video?" Sanada wondered, pointing to the television. "It's giving me a strange vibe…"

They watched it quietly for a moment. Then Yanagi spoke in a low voice.

"Chances that this video is sending subliminal messages…98%," he uttered. Yukimura and Sanada flinched and turned to him, feeling dread blossom within them.

"Don't watch it!" Yukimura cried out, using his hands to shield his eyes. Sanada copied the action, but Yanagi stood still. "Renji?"

"Renji!" Sanada wailed. "Don't listen to it! It's a trap, just as you said!"

But Yanagi was already watching the television with empty eyes. Yukimura and Sanada exchanged panicked looks; they were the only ones left. Yukimura turned and grabbed Sanada's shoulders.

"Genichirou," he breathed. "There's always been something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Seiichi?" Sanada said, eyebrows knitting with worry. "What are you doing?"

"In case something happens…in case we don't get back to Rikkai," Yukimura told him, holding his shoulders even tighter. "I need to tell you…" He paused. Sanada stared into his eyes intently, awaiting the remainder of his words. "I need to…tell you…"

"Seiichi!" Sanada panicked when Yukimura's eyes slid past him and landed on the television. "Seiichi, _no_!" Sanada grabbed Yukimura and shook him. "Seiichi, don't listen to them! What did you need to tell me?"

"To tell…you…" Yukimura whispered. "…bring victory…to St. Rudolph."

Sanada's breath caught in his throat as he watched Yukimura slide to the floor. It had already happened. All of his teammates, gone…just like that. Now he was the only one left…and it was only a matter of time before he was just like the others.

The regulars of St. Rudolph usually stayed after school much later than the rest of the tennis club. After their previous losses, they were working twice as hard to win at their next tournament. So they decided to have extra training after the regular tennis club hours. This mostly consisted of practice matches with one another and individual workouts. Things were going along smoothly for them.

Everyone was finishing up the last practice matches for the day. Yuuta, who had already won his match against the big-lipped Shinya, was heading to the locker room. He was going to grab everyone a soda since they'd been working so hard the past few weeks. All this hard work made him tired, but a part of Yuuta wanted to work even harder. He still had a long ways to go before he was on even terms with his older brother.

The regulars practiced on the other side of the school, where they wouldn't be disturbed, so Yuuta made his way towards the tennis courts. He trotted up the stairs and opened the door to the school. He stopped, though, when he heard the end of a commotion down the hall. A moment later, it fell silent. Yuuta blinked, glancing around.  
>"Hello?" he called. "Is anybody here?"<p>

He heard footsteps, and soon Mizuki appeared, his elbow resting in one hand while the other toyed with his bangs. He was chuckling to himself. Yuuta blinked and stiffened. He recognized this strange state the manager was in. "Uh…Mizuki?"

"Yuuta!" Mizuki cried out, making the brunette jump. "Isn't it wonderful? Our team is going to be so big this year! We'll win every single tournament. I just have to analyze a bit more data on our opponents, and we should be good to go…"

"Oh, no," breathed Yuuta. "Mizuki, don't tell me––"

"I'm going to grab some papers from the clubhouse. Excuse me," Mizuki said cheerfully, and he slipped past Yuuta outside. With a grimace, the other boy hurried out after him. He had to grab his teammates. To his relief, he saw them walking towards the school. They had obviously finished up their matches and were heading to the locker room to change. Yuuta darted towards them, stopping in front of the tanned Akazawa.

"Buchou," he said quietly. "Mizuki's having another one of his…episodes."

Everyone looked from Yuuta to the clubhouse. A collective groan escaped the small group, and Akazawa pressed his fingers to his forehead, eyes closed and eyebrows knitting in aggravation.

"Dammit, what happened?" he sighed.

"I dunno, but he's doing that…thing." Yuuta tried to impersonate the boy's actions, but everyone already knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Guess it's time for another intervention," Akazawa mumbled. The others whined again, but their bespectacled co-captain stepped forward.

"We all know this happens sometimes," he said. "But we've always been able to fix things, haven't we?"

"Doesn't make it any less annoying, da ne," called Shinya in irritation. Everybody muttered in agreement.

"Takuya's right, though," sighed Akazawa. "He's a good manager. He just has…his moments."

Nobody argued against the captain. Instead, they followed him as a group while Mizuki hurried towards the school, a stack of papers in his arms.

"Hey, Mizuki," Akazawa called. But the boy rushed past them and into the school. Either he was ignoring them, or he hadn't heard them at all. The others walked through the doors and past the locker room. When they rounded the corner in the hallway, Mizuki had his ear pressed up against the door on the right. He was cackling to himself.

"Mizuki," barked Akazawa. The black-haired boy jumped, whirled around, and flattened his back against the door.

"Ah…" he uttered, looking first at the captain, then the rest of the regulars. "Everyone. Hello."

"We know something's up, Mizuki," Akazawa said sternly. "May I see those papers you're holding?"

Mizuki's eyes narrowed, but he smiled and straightened a bit. He held the little stack out to the other boy.

"Of course, Buchou," he said politely. Akazawa took the papers and looked over them. He sighed heavily as soon as he saw the title.

" 'Club Member Exchange Program.' Of course," he said. "Who did you get this time? And why are they locked in that room?"

"Wait," said the dark-haired boy with a red bandanna tied around his forehead. He pointed to one of the already-signed documents. "That name…it sounds really familiar."

"Atsushi's right, da ne," Shinya agreed. "Bunta Marui…that rings a bell, da ne."

"Wait a second," Akazawa breathed. He quickly flipped to another page. "Kuwahara Jackal. Masaharu Niou. Akaya Kirihara."

Everyone had the same dawning realization as their captain. All eyes slid from the papers slowly to Mizuki, the color gone from their faces.

"_Rikkai University_?" they exclaimed in unison.

"You…somehow got Rikkai regulars to sign these pages?" Yuuta cried in horror. Akazawa was searching through the pages again.

"Mizuki," he said shakily. "You have four signed pages and three blank ones. _Please_ don't tell me…"

"The Big Three," whispered Kaneda, cowering behind Akazawa. Everyone then realized just how dangerous of a situation they were in. They all cast their eyes at the closed door in front of them.

"Every…single…Rikkai player…is behind that door," said Takuya, paralyzed with fear.

"Dammit, Mizuki," Akazawa huffed. "You are really pushing it this time."

Mizuki pouted a bit, folding his arms.

"I was doing our club a favor. With the Rikkai regulars as our teammates, nobody will stand a chance. Don't you realize the opportunity here?"

"Yeah, an opportunity for us to plan our funerals early, da ne!" whimpered Shinya.

"Mizuki. Go get a pen and start signing the release on all of these forms," Akazawa commanded, shoving the papers into Mizuki's arms again. Mizuki looked utterly appalled. But before he could argue, Akazawa pointed furiously. "Go, or you're off the team!"

Mizuki shot him a death glare, but strode away obediently. Obviously he was the only person there who understood the advantage they could have with the Rikkai members. Things had been going so nicely, too…he hadn't ever expected all the regulars to show up. He nearly had every single one of them as a great tool for data and analysis. But he had to listen to the captain, no matter what his instincts told him.

As Mizuki left to do as Akazawa had asked, the rest of the team stared apprehensively at the door. They watched the door in silence for a long time.

"Well, Buchou," Yuuta finally spoke nervously. "You're the leader here. You open the door and explain everything, then all will be good!"

Akazawa stiffened when Yuuta addressed him.

"T-Takuya, you lost the most matches today! You open it," he huffed to the co-captain, who panicked.

"W-what? Me? Why? Shinya should do it," Takuya said, pointing to the brunette.

"_Da ne_?" Shinya gasped, and glared at Atsushi, who was laughing his strange laugh at his friend's misfortune.

"_Ksh ksh ksh,"_ he snickered. Shinya scowled, his lips pouting even more.

"Atsushi, da ne! You open it, da ne!" he ordered. Atsushi choked on his laugh and cried, "Kaneda, do it for Buchou!"

"Huh? No way! Yuuta, you do it," Kaneda said desperately. But Yuuta was shaking his head frantically. Everyone fell silent and looked at the door again.

"Well…_someone_ has to open it," Atsushi uttered. They heard footsteps and all turned to see Mizuki approaching. He looked quite irritated.

"There," he said, handing the papers and a pen to Akazawa. "All ready for your deciding signature, Buchou."

Akazawa gradually took the papers and looked at Mizuki. Everyone else turned their attention to the boy as well. Mizuki noticed, and shifted awkwardly "What?" he said.

"_You_ open it," everyone ordered, pointing to the door. Mizuki spluttered, but covered it up with a laugh as he folded his arms.

"Why should I? Akazawa, you're the captain."

"But _you're_ the one who tricked all the Rikkai members and had them sign those papers and locked them in a room _and_ didn't tell us any of it. You open it," Yuuta accused him with stern face.

"Plus you have the keys," added Akazawa. Everybody behind him muttered and nodded in agreement. Mizuki let out a nervous laugh, and tried to shake off his fear.

"Very well," he murmured. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring of keys, but took his time walking to the door and finding the proper one. Finally, he inserted the key into the lock and twisted it. They all heard a click as the door unlocked. Mizuki warily turned the door handle, and the rest of the team instinctively moved back a step. They expected all hell to break loose as soon as the door had opened, but it was strangely silent. After waiting a moment, Mizuki pushed the door gently open and poked his head inside.

All of the Rikkai members were slumped on the floor or against the wall, their eyes dazed. Nobody said or did anything for at least two minutes straight.

"What's going on?" whispered Kaneda finally. "Why aren't any of them moving?"

Akazawa swore quietly and eased over to the doorway. He glanced up at the television and his eyes narrowed as he slowly turned to Mizuki.

"You used _that_?" he groaned. "Jeez, no wonder they're all half dead." He walked into the room and, since he was tall enough, reached up and turned off the television. "That stupid orientation video messed up anybody who watched it. That's why we _banned_ it from further use."

Mizuki sniffed, his fingers against his forehead.

"I was not aware of that. I simply found it in the supply closet," he said. Everyone rolled their eyes skeptically.

"I guess we should…wake them up," Akazawa murmured. He leaned over the one who seemed least likely to inflict damage upon awakening. He patted Yagyuu's face gently. "Hey…uh, Yagyuu?"

The brunette stirred a bit, his eyes coming into focus. He blinked repeatedly up at Akazawa.

"Uh…huh. What happened?" he murmured, sitting up slowly and massaging his head. "Where am I?"

"St. Rudolph," commented Akazawa. "I'll explain everything later. For now we need to wake up your teammates."

Something about the boy's words seemed familiar to Yagyuu, and he looked around. As soon as he saw the rest of his team on the floor, he remembered everything. He pursed his lips, glancing up at the doorway, where Mizuki was standing. As soon as their eyes met, Mizuki snorted and moved away, hiding behind the wall on the other side.

Yagyuu woke Yukimura while Akazawa moved on to Marui. Soon most everyone was coming out of their coma-like state––except Akaya and Sanada. Nobody wanted to even try touching Sanada, while Akaya simply remained dazed. Niou mumbled something and walked out of the room while everyone stood awkwardly waiting. Niou finally came back, carrying two bottles of water. He dumped the first on Akaya, then the second on Sanada. Everybody shrunk away in horror that he would actually do something like that.

"Wha––Niou! What the hell are you doing?" Sanada spluttered, wiping the water off his face. Niou smirked down at him and said, "Good morning, Fukubuchou."

Sanada blinked at him and glanced around the room, at all the terrified faces of St. Rudolph's tennis team and the tired looks of his own team members. Sanada got to his feet, still drying the water on his face. He nodded to Niou and walked over to stand beside Yukimura. Yanagi was helping Akaya up. Despite having water dumped on his head, the boy looked as if he had just awakened from an eternity of sleep. The light was back in his green eyes, but he stumbled and muttered incoherently. Akazawa walked over to Sanada and Yukimura and bowed low, nearly bent in half.

"I am so sorry for the trouble our manager has caused you," he said sincerely. "I'm signing the release forms so you and your team can get back to your regular practices."

"Thank you," Yukimura said. "So long as we can close everything properly and have things go back to normal."

"Of course," Takuya added, also bowing. "Again, we are so sorry."

The rest of the regulars, even Mizuki, apologized as well, bowing down to show their genuineness.

"You'd better be paying us back somehow for all this trouble," Marui mumbled.

"We will send you an apology package, I promise," Akazawa said to them.

"It's enough," Sanada said, but without much bite. "You ought to know we will be taking legal action against this situation."

Everyone hesitated.

"Actually," Akazawa began slowly, "you can't."

Everyone on Rikkai gaped at him.

"We got freaking kidnapped," Niou grumbled. "At least, five of us did."

"Well, according to the paperwork, only three didn't sign the document. However, on the back of these documents is some fine print…" Takuya picked up one of the papers and held up the back to show them. Sure enough, there were at least ten extra paragraphs regarding the terms and conditions. He pointed to one of them. "As you can see, in this section, it excuses any actions of Hajime Mizuki from the tennis club. Since one of your club members had signed it, it means you agreed to dismiss any further action brought on by our manager."

The Rikkai students turned gradually to Mizuki, who wasn't looking at them. He simply looked the other way and twirled his hair. They looked slowly to the other St. Rudolph members, who were shrugging.

"It's in the fine print," Yuuta said apologetically.

"Sorry, da ne. Should have read it, da ne," Shinya responded.

"But we'll still send you an apology gift," said Kaneda. "It'll be a good one."

"And it will never happen again," added Atsushi.

Nobody spoke for a few moments. All the Rikkai members were watching the other team, honestly not feeling much better. This team and their paperwork… Finally, Yukimura spoke, grabbing Sanada's arm.

"We appreciate the gesture," he said. "So long as the paperwork gets taken care of, everything will be fine." He walked down the hallway, dragging Sanada with him. The others followed immediately. Their captain turned once again to the other team. "Thank you for taking care of things."

"Thank you for understanding," Akazawa responded. "Again, we're sorry."

"It's nothing!" Yukimura said, waving a hand. "Maybe we can organize some practice matches in the future."

"We would be honored," Akazawa said, and they bid each other an awkward farewell before the Rikkai members left the school.

"Wow!" gasped Marui. "I am sure glad _that's_ over. What a nightmare."

"Hardly even felt real, did it?" Jackal murmured, rubbing his head. They silently made their way out of the school grounds and down the street. But Yukimura suddenly stopped. Everybody else paused as well, watching their captain nervously.

"Seiichi?" Yanagi pressed.

"Everyone," Yukimura said, and he turned around to look at his team. His eyes were dark and his face serious. "Never get involved with that team again unless you have to. They are dangerous and not to be trusted. Do you understand?"

Nobody hesitated.

"Yes, Buchou," they all breathed, nodding in agreement.

"Good. Let's get back to our own school," Yukimura said, and they continued forward.

"What's wrong with Akaya?" asked Yagyuu to Yanagi, who was pulling the boy gently along. He still appeared to be in a trance.

"According to my calculations, Akaya is still in this state because he had longer exposure to the subliminal video at St. Rudolph. He was there longer than any of us were. I calculate he should be back to his normal self by tomorrow morning."

"Good," sighed Jackal. "That means everything really is going back to normal."

"Thank God," mumbled Niou. "That was too weird."

Everyone agreed, then didn't speak anymore on the matter of St. Rudolph.

Things went back to being ordinary the next day, just as Yanagi had predicted. Everyone was grateful to be back at the tennis courts, and Akaya's fierce spirit and determination was welcomed back openly from the entire club. Akaya, who didn't seem to remember much of what had happened at all, seemed a bit weary of everybody's affectionate actions and words. But he pushed his thoughts aside and enjoyed the attention he was getting.

They did receive an apology gift from St. Rudolph. It was a giant cake delivered directly to the courts from some of the St. Rudolph regulars. Yukimura accepted it, thanking them, then watched as they left. Everyone had tensed up as soon as they arrived, and now that they were gone, everybody relaxed.

"This is quite the apology gift," Yanagi murmured, watching as Marui eagerly dug in. "Who knew a cunning school like St. Rudolph excelled in culinary arts?"

"I don't care what it is, so long as they don't try anything suspicious again," Yukimura commented. Sanada and Yanagi nodded in agreement.

One day, a couple of weeks after the whole ordeal, Akaya was having a practice match against Sanada, and he was working his hardest. All the regulars were watching with interest. Sanada, however, had already gained the upper hand easily. But Akaya suddenly stopped just as he was about to return the ball. Everyone groaned in unison.

"Hey, Seaweed-head! What the hell was that? You had it!" Marui called out.

"Marui is right. That was a shot you easily could have returned. Why did you stop?" Sanada demanded.

The black-haired boy was looking silently down at his racquet. After a moment, he glanced up, looking confused.

"I just had the weirdest thought," he said, scratching his head. "I suddenly thought I needed to…win this match for a different reason."

"What do you mean?" asked Yanagi, who was standing in as the referee.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but I just thought I had to win…for…St. Rudolph? Isn't that another school? The school that…something happened there recently, didn't it?"

Everyone stared at him in horror, the name sending a tremor of fear down everybody's back. Akaya glanced around as everybody gaped at him. It made him nervous. "W-what? Did I say something wrong?"

"You're overthinking it. Just play," said Niou finally. Everyone rapidly agreed. Akaya blinked as he looked again at everybody's anxious faces.

"Uh…okay," he muttered. "Whatever."

To everyone's relief, he did not press the matter further and the match continued. Akaya lost, and threw a huge fit about it as per usual. During the next practice match, Sanada walked over to Yukimura. They watched silently before Sanada spoke in a low voice.

"Seiichi," he murmured. "Back in that room at St. Rudolph…you said you had something to tell me." He turned to Yukimura, his eyes filled with concern. "What was it?"

Yukimura didn't meet Sanada's eyes.

"I'm afraid I've…forgotten," he said. "I'm sorry."

Sanada tried not to appear too disappointed.

"Ah, that's all right," he commented. They returned their attention to the match once more before he spoke again. "And Seiichi…"

"I know," Yukimura said softly, closing his eyes. "St. Rudolph is a school not to be taken lightly. They're dangerous, and we should never underestimate them again."

"Yes," Sanada agreed quietly, looking back to the match. They would never make that mistake again.


End file.
